Former energy CEO joins Senate race

During a stop in Cedar Rapids, Mark Jacobs announces he'll run for the Republican nomination for Senate in 2014.

Durrie BouscarenIowa Public Radio

A former energy company CEO joined the Republican pool of Senate hopefuls Tuesday with a week-long statewide announcement tour.

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During a stop in Cedar Rapids, Mark Jacobs' message focused on economic growth. He said his experience as CEO of Houston-based Reliant Energy will help him address gridlock in Washington.

Like Enron, Reliant was federally indicted for manipulating energy prices to create and profit from the California Electricity Crisis in 2000. Jacobs joined the company two years later.

He says his campaign in Iowa will focus on how he brought Reliant back from the brink of bankruptcy—restructuring its debt and paying settlements.

"We implemented new processes and controls to get the company stabilized," Jacobs said. "I was brought in to help clean up those problems, and I learned from that how to bring people together and solve problems."

Jacobs joins six other Republicans vying for the GOP nomination to run for Senate in 2014, against Democrat Bruce Braley.